What’s In The Box? Paul Simon, ‘Graceland: 25th Anniversary Edition’

Need a last minute gift for the rock and roll fan in your life? Or do you just need to figure out what to spend that awesome gift card on? We’re here to help with rundowns of this year’s best box sets from classic artists.

THE DEAL: Instead of releasing a box set for an album that actually isn’t all that classic, Simon took what is undoubtedly his most iconic work and jam-packed the box set with all kinds of goodies. This includes the album itself, a disc of unreleased demos/alternate tracks, a live EP from his 1989 Graceland tour, a DVD of Paul Simon’s 1987 African Concert, and a photo book including interviews with the album’s creators. The real crowning jewels of the box set, however, are the handwritten legal pad of lyrics and notes from Simon (seemingly a copy of his personal records), and the DVD of Under African Skies. The documentary, directed by Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost, Metallica doc Some Kind of Monster), was filmed specifically for the box set. In it, Simon travels back to South Africa to reunite with his Graceland band members and revisit the apartheid controversy surrounding the album at the time of its release. For more on Under African Skies, read our interview with the film’s director.